


Soft Skin and Sharp Teeth

by sspacemess



Series: Shark Keith and Mermaid Lance [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha! Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Brief mention of rape/non-con, But also some sickeningly sweet fluff, F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Its real quick don’t worry, Keith is fertile with eggs, Lance helps him out, Lance’s Family (Voltron) - Freeform, Lonely Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mermaid sex is strange, Mpreg, Omega! Keith (Voltron), Shark Lotor, Smut, The rest of the gang are mermaids, a/b/o dynamics, kangst, klance, klangst, mermaid au, shark keith, sort of??, toothrotting fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-08 19:15:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 23
Words: 19,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17392121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sspacemess/pseuds/sspacemess
Summary: Lance is not timid, to say the least.He’ll take any chance he can get to go adventuring, and a night with his parents away? Well, going past the border between open ocean and their shoals territory has never been to tempting.Keith isn’t anything near timid either, but while carrying a burden that he loves nonetheless and traveling from place to place he is nothing like Lance. Too bad that the boy unfortunately still has a heart even for his enemies and won’t leave a stranger swimming in circles forever.This only leads to Lance standing in as a temporary mate and Keith trying to understand that Lance actually wants to help him.





	1. That’s Not a Female

**Author's Note:**

> i haven’t written a fanfic in a hell of a long time, but this little story has been developing in my mind and i NEED to get it out

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Click.

The sound of the small gate door was loud enough to be heard up from Lance’s own little ledge in his family’s house. Or cave, but it was all the same.

His parents had to go make business with another neighbouring shoal, something about the property market and other boring lawyer stuff, Lance didn’t care. All that mattered was that three of his youngest siblings we’re staying with their aunt while Lance’s older cousin, Allura, was babysitting him and the other three.

Not that he needed a babysitter.

No, he had other plans. Ones that he came to decide couldn’t wait as he wasted no time in dashing down from his ledge and right out of their vine covered doorway, ignoring any shouts from Allura asking where he was going.

He’d waited long enough, and with his long fins nicely groomed and dangerous spines sharpened he was going out past the border to the open ocean. Maybe to hunt some things, maybe to find a pretty mate. Either worked for him, as long as he came back home with a decent prize.

He was 17 after all, every other boy his age was already doing all this and more, wasn’t his fault that his parents were so overly protective and would absolutely kill him for doing this.

Yeah, that’s right, they’d be fuming if they could see him passing the rock barrier like he was right now. If they could see him dipping down into a large trench. If they could see him carelessly swimming through dark waters.

Dark waters?

Lance looked around, then up, noticing how far away the opening of the trench was. He’d been too caught up on how dead he’d be if he was caught by his parents and didn’t think about how dead he’d be if he was caught by.. something else.

This was the small section of water that laid between other shoals territory, the place where wild creatures swam freely and sharks roamed without a care.

Going down into a trench maybe wasn’t his best idea, but Lance preferred to think that it was an opportunity to find a pretty catch, a nice girl who wasn’t constantly bound to the rules of a shoal.

He always liked them dark and mysterious anyway.

Another few minutes of swimming and it had only gotten darker, looking up Lance could no longer see the top of the trench. That’s got to be wrong, he thought to himself, no matter how deep you were always supposed to be able to see the top.

Unless.. he wasn’t in the trench anymore?

That immediately made Lance go stiff, the possibility of being lost only becoming more and more clear as he looked around at the unfamiliar rocks.

And, soon heard, an unfamiliar sound.

It was a monotone trill, echoing off the high walls of rock surrounding him, like the person on the other end was searching for any sort of response. 

Another one followed, making it easier to tell that they were trying to see if the area was clear.

Well, just responding back would let the possible pretty lady know of his presence and bolt. Lance wouldn’t do that.

Following the sound of the slight sway in the water, Lance didn’t take too long to meet with the back of this mysterious mermaid.

Long, silk like black hair

Pale skin that faded nicely into a long, sturdy grey tail.

A sharp looking dorsal fin on her back.

Lance froze up again. Okay, that was not a mermaid, that was a shark.

Dangerous and bloodthirsty. A fight he might not win, making the best option to book it and run while he could. So what did Lance do?

“Surrender now!” He shouted, already letting his fins flare outwards and spins stand up before the shark lady had even turned around. Now there was no going back, he could definitely out-swim a shark any day but Lance wasn’t too happy with backing down from a fight that he’d just signed himself up to.

The pale shark turned around, a moment passing as her black hair swayed away from her face.

Nope. Not a female. That was definitely a guy.

“I said surrender!” Lance barked, not appreciating the silence that came from the other the first time he had said it, and tried to ignore the way that he flinched back at the harsh loud tone.

The frightened expression the other male wore was enough for Lance to give himself some time not worry about being attacked and look him up and down. His eyes traveling down from his almost light grey appearing skin, the dark tail that was sporting a decent looking cut that surely was infected. Then all the way back up to where there was a small bump where his tail met the skin, only noticeable if you really focused.

This shark was egg heavy, and if Lance knew anything from having 6 other siblings it was to not put a mother’s eggs at risk.


	2. A Point in the Right Direction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance knows he shouldn’t trust a shark to help him, but it’s not like he has much choice if he doesn’t want Allura to lock him inside for the next three days.

The shark stayed mostly still, except for how his tail curled upwards a little bit, trying to put any sort of protective barrier between Lance and his eggs. 

Right about now should be when he lunged right at Lance, ready to rip him to shreds for even daring to wave his spines around in such a manner.

Though he didn’t, and it was now obvious that this shark might actually have half a brain, because while both carrying eggs and having that nasty infection on his tail if there was a fight it would not be one that he’d win.

So, in respect, Lance lowered his fins flat against his back, along with keeping his spines pointed downwards to show he wasn’t going to be a threat himself.

That wasn’t good enough to get any words from the shark boy, who slowly turned around and made quick progress of shooting off in the opposite direction. 

“Wait! Don’t go!” Lance yelled after him, mentally scolding himself for speaking without thinking. He’d admit it now, he was lost, but asking help from a shark was a bad idea. Even more so considering that sharks were loathed by all mermaids and were captivated for even being close to them. 

The shark turned back around, though still keeping his distance and his mouth tight shut.

“Can you.. just point me in the direction I can go to get out of this trench? I’m a little.. uh.. lost?” 

More silence.

“I need to get back home before dark.. and there’s no way to retrace my steps from here. If you could just give me a little pointer that would be great.”

More silence. Lance was so close to just giving up and turning away to figure it out himself, when there was finally another voice in the water besides his own.

“You won’t make it by dark. Not going that way at least.” 

It was short, blunt, barely a mumble. But it was something, and that was enough for Lance. He was about to ask yet again for a point in the right direction, calming himself so he didn’t get annoyed with the fact that the shark still wouldn’t answer his damn question, when to his surprise he spoke again.

“If you put your spines down I could show you a shortcut..” The shark boy whispered, quiet as if he was doubting his own decision, and really Lance couldn’t blame him.

This isn’t how things were meant to work, sharks and mermaids didn’t just help each other like it was morning. Why the hell was Lance trusting this shark that was probably moody from being all stuffed with eggs? 

Why the hell was the shark trusting him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be in Keith’s pov because uwu i love him lots and can’t stand to go any longer than two chapters not talking about him


	3. Not As Terrible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith doesn’t actually hate Lance’s inability to shut up as much as he thought that he would.

Why the hell was he trusting a mermaid?

With such an advantage in speed and those sharp looking spines it wouldn’t be all that hard to impale him and take him back to the shoal as a prize.

Just the thought of it made Keith shudder, unconsciously putting another few inches between the two as they swam through the rocky bottom of the trench around to where he knew a shortcut back to the open ocean was.

Helping out a mermaid, Shiro better by happy with him for this one.

“So.. can I get your name?” The mermaid asked, sounding less like he genuinely wanted to know and more like he wanted to say anything to get rid of the silence. Keith only offered a side glance, keeping his jaw clenched shut.

“Alright then. Well I’m Lance, Lance McClain. Sibling of seven, would be nine if the youngest hadn’t gotten to Mama’s eggs and trampled on them.” He chuckled slightly, finding humour in his own words.

“You’ve.. uh.. got some eggs of your own there, huh?” This time he sounded a little nervous if anything, like he was not sure if it was a sensitive sort of thing to ask. Which, in fact, it was.

Though continuing to ignore the blue finned mermaid wouldn’t do him much good.

“Keith.” He muttered, not saying anything else as he continued to swim on through a small passage way, a clearing in the rocky wall. 

The new information made the mermaid, or who was now known as Lance, perk up a little, happy he’d gotten an answer. 

“That’s cool! Well then, Keith, thank you very much for helping me out. You aren’t that bad.” He cheered, gliding a little closer. And for once, Keith didn’t pull away, he knew it would be useless any way and the company wasn’t all that bad.

Having someone next to him talking was a change, and he’d be open to having that change around a little more often if the change wasn’t part of a race that basically resented his own type.

Yeah, that was a bit of an issue.

Keith fell back into his own comfortable silence, but gave the occasional hum of understanding as Lance went on and on about just about anything he could think of, and instead of tuning out Keith caught himself actually listening to every word.

They eventually met just outside the border, which was a lot further than Keith was planning to go since he had only really agreed to showing Lance outside of the trench.

“I guess you’re pretty cool, shark boy. A little moody and antisocial but that’s nothing that I can’t handle!” Lance boasted, a few of his fins flaring out on display, and Keith would by lying if he didn’t say it was beautiful.

He scoffed in reply, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away from the pretty display of shiny blue and green in front of him. “Okay, whatever. You’re not as terrible either, but I got you home so you better shoo and stop bothering me.”

Part of his brain was very against what he was saying. No, he didn’t want the other boy to shoo at all, he didn’t want him to ‘stop bothering’ him. 

But he wouldn’t say that in a million years. 

Just as Lance was about to say something else, maybe a witty goodbye, a genuine compliment, Keith didn’t know and never asked, there was a loud yell from some sort of guard standing just on top of the rock wall that was dividing them from the mermaid shoal.

“It’s a shark! Everyone get to your posts!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is where the violence comes in, but don’t worry i’d never really hurt them too bad i love them too much for that


	4. Will To Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Keith wants is to protect his eggs, and luckily Lance has the heart to try and help with that

Keith mentally cursed. He shouldn’t be here, he shouldn’t of helped Lance out in the first place and now he was going to pay for that with his life.

And, strangely, he was okay with that. At any other time in his short lifetime he would of surrendered happily and let himself be killed, constantly running between the small block of land he was trapped in was bound to get tiresome at some point anyway.

But right now he had eggs, and that gave Keith all the more will to live. To let his eggs live. 

“You don’t have to worry, he just guided me back! I got a little lost exploring, he means no harm.” A voice yelled, and as Keith’s brain focused back in on the present and pushed his panic further back, he realised that the boy was defending him.

There was Lance, already stationed in front of him with his fins and spines flared out, putting up a protective barrier between the angry mermaid guard that was yielding a very dangerous looking spear.

Taking this as his chance to get away Keith bolted, making a fast get away back into the open ocean. Unfortunately he wasn’t as fast as he could be, both the stinging infection on his tail and the need to go slow and protect his eggs making his movements a little sluggish.

The mermaid guard picked up on this, ignoring Lance’s yells and shoving past, his fins flat against his body making him shoot through the water with ease. That long spear he was carrying jabbed at Keith’s tail, making him thrash around to try and avoid getting spiked.

He tried again to stab at him, aimed right for his stomach. In a rush to protect his precious eggs, Keith’s tail whipped up in front of him, biting his lip to muffle the scream of agony that ripped from his throat upon having the spear go right through the thinned down bottom of his tail.

Thick, red blood spilled into the water, clouding his vision and making it harder to get water into his gills.

Oh, god, he was going to die like this. His unborn pups were going to die like this. 

Everything fell deaf to his ears, and he barely acknowledged the sudden rush of water going past his ears, or the slim but sturdy chest that his smaller back was pressed up against, or the arms wrapped around his stomach as Keith’s tail flailed uselessly behind him while Lance supported his dead weight as he swam at a breakneck speed away from the rock wall.

The guard knew that going after them with Lance hugging the shark so close to his body would only risk getting the mermaid hurt in the crossfire, making him retreat back to his post by the time the two boys were entirely out of sight.

Somewhere along the way Keith had lost consciousness, worn out from the amount of blood that was being swept away by the soft waves behind them as Lance swam them both at a speed only a mermaid would be able to reach, right into a secluded looking cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, it actually wasn’t that bad, i decided to go easy on my bbys.  
> thanks for all the comments! this is actually pretty fun to write and hearing that other people enjoy it make things a hundred times funner


	5. Why Are You Doing This?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith finds the concept of Lance wanting to help him confusing, while Lance finds it pretty simple.

“Keith, buddy, pal, I need you to move your tail juuuuust a little bit, please? This thing is heavier than it looks, surprising considering how bony the rest of you is.” 

Lance was trying his very hardest to push the sharks large tail so it was laid out straight, as it was currently wrapped around Keith’s torso and showed no signs of budging.

The prods and pushes were what Keith woke up to, opening his eyes just a little to try and remember what had happened.

Bit by bit it came together in his mind. Leading the mermaid back home, the guard, the spear.

Bubbles left his mouth as he gasped and jolted in his spot, recalling everything and instinctively curling his tail up even more, eyes wide with shock as he didn’t let his gaze move from Lance.

His slight panic must of been obvious, as within seconds Lance was carefully stroking his tail, the odd gesture making Keith’s eyes trail to the hand that was giving him these gentle touches.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you.. I just want to try and patch up your tail a little, it looks pretty bad.” He said softly, trying to coax the tensed shark into helping out just a little.

It didn’t seem to work, but Lance didn’t hesitate in continuing the slow pets. “If you think I’m going to try and touch your eggs, you don’t need to worry. I know very well how angry a mother can get if their pups are messed with.”

That worked perfectly, Keith’s brain going back to the conversation from before, recalling how Lance mentioned he had six other siblings. If anyone knew the wrath of a mother it had got to be this guy.

Keith carefully let his tail pull away from his body, wincing as a pins and needles like pain shot up the strong muscles as he laid it straight out in front of him.

Lance appreciated this, giving a soft smile to show he wasn’t any danger as he went down a little to inspect the wounds. “This is bad.. plus the infection that you’ve already got? You’re lucky that you can still move.. but I recon I should be able to fix you up.”

He took a look inside the satchel he’d brought with him on the trip, rummaging around a little before he received a few seaweed bandages.

As careful as possible he bandaged the wounds up, hushing the other when he yelped in pain. This’ll take a lot more than bandages.

“Look.. I’ll be honest, this isn’t going to go away quickly. I’ve got to go and get some medical stuff to do this properly, and that’s not mentioning that you look malnourished, too. So I’m going to need you to stay right here while I make a quick trip back, okay?”

Keith blinked, like the words were taking a little to actually get to his brain. And, really, they were. He couldn’t quite put together why Lance was doing this.

“Why are you doing this?” He asked, just wanting his answers.

The question took Lance aback a little, as if he thought it was obvious. “I can’t just leave you out here without helping? You’d bleed to death, either that or catch a nasty sickness from the infection. If I don’t do this, you’ll die.” 

“Yeah.. but I’m a shark, I can like hurt you and shit.” Keith mumbled, looking down as he poked at the rocky ground with a small twig.

Lance took the stick away with a sigh, setting it aside and tilting Keith’s chin up to force him to make eye contact, “And will you hurt me?” He asked.

Like before, Keith took a moment to process this, knowing very well the answer but it not sure how comfortable he was with it.

“W-Well.. I mean.. n-no? I’m not.. gonna..”

“Exactly, now stay here and rest up a little. I’ll be back soon with some medical stuff and even a little food to make you all better.” Lance flashed a wide grin, and before Keith could say anything else he was off. Leaving the shark not only questioning the mermaid that was quickly disappearing into the distance but himself too, but was very sure that he would in fact never hurt Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UghUnHg all your fricken comments make me smile so fricken mUcH


	6. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance pries for a bit of information, and upon hearing Keith open up a little about having worries on this whole egg thing, he takes it as a chance to bond.

Waiting was boring, and Keith didn’t like it one bit.

But it wasn’t like he could do much else, even trying to lift his tail an inch hurt and he knew that if he pushed through the pain to go off and occupy himself Lance wouldn’t be too happy.

Ugh, why did Lance’s option matter again?

Oh, because he was stupid and decided to be overly nice and even offer to fix up Keith’s wounds. And Keith, who has never even had someone speak to him in a pleasant tone besides someone he considered a brother, was absolutely weak for the niceness.

Hey, he could enjoy a nice boy if he wanted to. If it wasn’t for Lance then Keith could kiss both his life and his future pups lives goodbye.

With that thought in mind he drifted off again, blood loss really taking a toll on him as he settled on passing the time by sleeping. 

 

When Lance came back only to see the shark laid peacefully on the cave floor fast asleep he couldn’t not think that it was cute. Though, that peaceful sleep would have to be disturbed if he wanted to get the wounds dressed. 

He shook the boy softly, a hand rubbing through his matted hair as Keith slowly came to a wake, gazing up at Lance with slightly hazy eyes. 

“M’yeah?” He hummed, sleep still laced deeply in his voice, his guard pretty much completely down in this moment of precious vulnerability.

“I’ve got the stuff I need to help you.. think you can sit up a little? This is going to hurt a bit so it’s best you brace yourself now.” Lance whispered, rubbing Keith’s arm as he helped him sit up before going back down to his tail, carefully peeling away the bandages that had soaked up a fair amount of blood. 

Keith watched intently, the only sounds leaving his mouth pained grunts and winces as Lance worked on cleaning out the wound. He got out a strange blue liquid that was supposed to be a mermaids equivalent of disinfectant and dabbed it onto the cut, the action making Keith properly jerk his tail away this time.

“Hey, hey.. calm down.. just a little bit more, you’ll be okay.” He cooed, stopping the cleaning until he knew that the other wasn’t going to bite his head off.

Finishing off with some clean bandages he pulled himself over to sit next to Keith, letting the boy rest his head on his shoulder as it was obvious he was tired.

The sight was nice to see, a big change to how Keith had been when they first talked.

“You shouldn’t sleep just yet, I bought some fish with me so you can get some food in you.. after all, you are eating for more than just yourself.”

He dragged over the bucket, smiling at the way Keith perked up at mere the mention of food. First he sort of poked at it like he wasn’t sure if the fish was safe or not, but got over that quickly and dug in eagerly.

“Sheesh.. when was the last time you ate? No wonder you’re basically skin and bones..” Lance teased, but there was worry thick in his voice.

The only response he got was a small shrug, which was definitely not good.

They sat there in silence for awhile, a question chewing away at Lance’s mind that he was just begging to finally ask. Sharks usually traveled in not shoals, but packs, so seeing Keith all alone and egg heavy was strange.

“How are you going with that whole.. egg situation? You don’t.. seem to be mated.” He asked nervously, for the first time going a little quiet and not so confident to just speak his thoughts.

Keith took the question into consideration, wrapping his arms protectively around his slightly extended stomach. “I guess it’s going good.. I mean, there’s a few things I’m worried about, a lot actually..” He trailed off, as if he was doubting his own words. Not like Lance could blame him, this was the most he’d spoken since they met.

“Really? You can tell me, y’know, I should be able to help. Mermaid birth is different to shark birth.. but I’ve been taught well by my Mama, I should know enough to ease some of your worries.” He offered, wearing an encouraging smile in hopes of getting Keith to open up a little bit to him. Maybe some bonding would do them good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is angsty, watch out


	7. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith opens up a little bit about his worries on not having a mate or a pack, but while he also denied saying who got him in this mess in the first place Lance tries to work around all that.

It was awkward.

So, so awkward.

Keith didn’t like being open about his feelings, full stop. There wasn’t much more to it, Lance was still a stranger to him. A very nice stranger. A very nice stranger that he’d listen to ramble about his family for ten minutes straight. A very nice stranger who was just trying to help him out.

Okay, maybe they weren’t strangers anymore, but that didn’t make things any easier for Keith.

After a few minutes of more silence, Lance decided on speaking up. “You don’t have to tell me, I was just offering help if you needed. You know what? I can actually go if you want, I’m sure that right now I’m not being that useful so I’ll just head on out.”

The nervous attempt to leave had Keith on edge, holding on tight to Lance’s arm that was about to be removed from around his shoulders, the other giving a questioning glance at the sudden change.

“No, no, no, no, no! Please don’t leave! I-I’m.. I-I’ll talk.. I just need to think, Okay? Don’t go.” He quickly shifted his gaze down to his tail as soon as Lance made the eye contact between the two, though the steady chuckle that followed surprised him into looking back up.

“Alright.. all you had to do was say that, take as long as you need and I’ll be right here.”

The small sentence was all Keith needed to make himself a little more comfortable, not paying attention to how he took Lance’s hand in his own to mindlessly inspect the long, blue web laced fingers while he brought up the courage to talk.

“Travelling alone is nice, and it’s always been nice.. but now that I’ve got this, uh, issue with me it’s not so great as things used to be,” He paused, remembering how to properly put his words together before continuing, “You probably already realised this by my lack of company but I’m not mated, and never had been. That’s another thing that wasn’t an issue.. though, right now everything in my body is screaming at me to get help, to not sit here alone as try and push through it myself like I would usually do.”

Lance listened to every word, drinking up this information like it was to be saved and kept safely locked away. From the way that occasionally Keith’s face would scrunch up, an action that Lance totally didn’t find cute, it was clear that the boy struggled quite a bit with speaking.

“Everything’s changing so fast that it’s hard to keep up.. I don’t know what’s happening to me, and because I’ve never really had a pack before I have little to no clue how the hell any of this works.” He huffed at the end, doing that little face scrunch thing again but holding it, and that was enough for Lance to assume this was his turn to speak.

He made Keith stop poking away at his hand, locking his fingers with the others and keeping them linked firmly as he begun. “All this is new to you.. and that’s why I’m going to try my hardest to help, because even though I swear not to tell anyone about you if my Mama knew I didn’t help then she’d have my head.” 

The attempt at lightening the mood and easing Keith’s nerves seemed to work a little, judging by how he pushed out air through his nose in a short huffing motion that somewhat resembled a laugh.

“The whole mate thing would be your hormones, since little Omega sharks like you are supposed to have mates through all of this. But there not much that a mate can do that I can’t.. it’s all pretty much comfort and someone to take good care of you, which I can do just fine.”

Silence lingered in the air around them, all of the words seeping into Keith’s mind as he took it into consideration. Not like he had much of a choice than to let Lance help him.

This was his chance, with the small shark all relaxed and warmed up to talking it was now or never if Lance wanted to find out who those eggs belonged to.

“Who.. got you knocked up in the first place? You haven’t had a mate before so..” He raised a brow, trying to stick to his boundaries and be polite as possible despite the curiosity eating him alive.

“It doesn’t matter.. all that I care about is that right now I’ve got my eggs and someone to help deal with them. That’s all that anybody needs to worry about.”

Keith dismissed the question with ease, but he sort of tensed up in a way, not as docile and lax as he had previously been while resting on Lance’s shoulder.

Pushing wouldn’t end very well, if Lance was going to act as temporary mate, minus the romance, he was going to need to need Keith as relaxed as possibly. Constantly asking him wasn’t going to do that.

With a small nod, he shifted himself away a little, carefully lowering Keith to lie down in a position that wouldn’t hurt his still healing tail. He let Keith’s head rest on his lap, brushing a hand through his hair hoping that it would help.

“You should get some sleep now.. the number one thing that you’ll need most of is rest. We’ll figure this out, together.” He whispered, a warm feeling swelling in his chest as he watched Keith close his eyes and get himself comfortable, content with the where he was.

And, Lance was right, Keith really did need rest. There was no reply, no ‘goodnight’ no anything. Within a few seconds he was out like a light, something that made Lance more relived than he thought he’d be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wonder who keith’s baby daddy is and why he doesn’t want to talk about it 👀   
> you’re welcome to leave your guesses in the comments, i’ll be sipping my tea while reading them all


	8. Sceptical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura is suspicious about Lance sneaking out, causing him to make up an excuse daringly close to the truth only to come back to the cave for an unpleasant surprise.

After Lance could make sure that Keith was well and truely asleep, he quietly slipped out from underneath the boy and kept him rested on the cave flood. He waited an extra minute to make sure that Keith’s stirring didn’t continue, before swimming back off into the ocean.

It was starting to get dark and others would be heading to their own homes to sleep now, so if Lance timed himself correctly he could get his rest, wake up around afternoon and return to a hopefully still calm Keith.

As he passed neighbours and friends he waved, giving small greetings and goodnights to the rest of his shoal as they closed their little shops down and retreated to their caves. It really was a nice community, sucks that he wouldn’t be able to show Keith what it’s like.

He snuck in easily though the door upon getting back to his home, making a b-line right for the kitchen to try and collect up all the possible stuff he could take to keep with Keith when he came back the next day before he forgot. Chances are he’d need a few bandage changes, and as to carry less Lance grabbed the whole medical kit, deciding on buying another to replace that later on.

“And what exactly are you doing?” Allura asked from behind him, the sudden voice of his older cousin making him jump. 

When turning around to see, she didn’t exactly look mad, just sceptical. “You left as soon as your parents were gone and come back at night? What on earth are you doing out there? And don’t think that I’d didn’t notice you stealing a heap of first aid stuff earlier when you snuck back in.”

The question left a heavy lump in Lance’s throat, spending a good minute stuttering and trying his hardest to think of a semi-believable excuse. One that didn’t involve Keith getting caught out and killed.

“I was.. trying to help a baby turtle..”

“Sorry, Lance, but you’ve already used that excuse with me when you slept over at some pretty ladies house.”

Damn, how could he not have remembered that one. He didn’t hear the end of it until a year after.

Though, that did spark the start of a decent excuse in his mind.

“You got me.. promise not to tell, okay?” He said nervously, rushing to think up how he could make this believable in the short amount of time he paused to watch Allura nod in agreement.

“I was out exploring in the open ocean.. and came across this chick. She doesn’t have a shoal and y’know, I kinda dig a free spirit,” Lance stopped his story, making sure that Allura was buying it well enough. “She had an infected cut so I wanted to help. Don’t worry, she totally digs me too, nothing to worry about.”

That seemed to do just the trick, Allura shrugged and grabbed some more bandages from under the counter to give to Lance. “Whatever you say, just be careful and stuff. ‘Night!” She called out the last part while going off to check up on his siblings, who must be asleep by now.

With a breath of relief Lance retreated to his own ledge, settling in and curling his tail around himself after setting the first aid kit to the side to take in the morning. That night he ended up falling asleep with Keith on his mind, wondering if he was okay.

 

When morning came Lance was still asleep, and stayed like that until early afternoon. It wasn’t uncommon for him to sleep in on days he didn’t have classes, being homeschooled was surprisingly tiring so he took any chance to sleep in he could get.

This time he didn’t try to be all discreet about getting out, even going so far as to wave at Allura as he slipped outside with a bucket of fish and the medical supplies in hand to go back and find Keith.

This was a regular school day, so not many people were out meaning no one questioned him as he went over the rock wall and into the unclaimed ocean.

He headed straight to the cave, a smile plastered on his face at being able to talk with the shark boy again. The time they had already spent together was something he enjoyed, easily seeing the pain that Keith tried to push down and he wanted nothing more than to help fix that up.

“Hey, Keith, I got you some more stuff!” He yelled out happily, peaking in through the entrance only for his smile to drop, not seeing any trace of Keith where he had left him sleeping that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o boy where’s keith gone wtf u running off for boi


	9. I’ll Never Leave You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith thinks that Lance’s abandoned him while he was sleeping, and takes the matter into his own hands to search for him.

Keith hadn’t even remembered falling asleep, and when he awoke he just laid there for an extra minute as his brain caught up with the rest of him.

With a yawn he pushed himself up a little with a grunt, looking around for the familiar blue tail he’d grown adjusted to. 

Wasn’t Lance here with him? The lack of company made his face drain of colour, dragging himself over to peek outside the cave incase the mermaid was only outside. Which he wasn’t, much to Keith’s dismay.

This wasn’t good at all, and instantly all the reasons that Lance could of ditched him started running through his mind. Maybe he got bored of him? Maybe he was looking for a chance to escape? Maybe Keith was being a nuisance?

But how, when Lance had been nothing but nice to him the whole time? He’d been the one to offer helping out with the eggs, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to just up and leave.

Though, it never made sense when someone left him.

It was then decided that he was going to go and bring Lance back himself, after all there was always the chance that he might be hurt and that’s why he wasn’t here with him. Lance surely wouldn’t be happy to see Keith swimming around with his tail still healing, he wasn’t happy about the sting himself, but it would be worth it.

Keith carefully swam out of the cave, his tail feeling stiff and heavy as it dragged behind him, but he didn’t let that stop him as he slowly but surely searched the area. First around the cave, then to the left, and then to the right. Nothing was working and Lance was still out of sight.

One more option to go, straight ahead, which happened to be closer to the shoal. More dangerous, considering he really didn’t want to get speared again, but there was more chance of Lance being around here. So, Keith swam closer.

Somewhere along the way he noticed a faint red in the water, following the trail with his eyes only to realise that with all the moving around and swimming the wound on the end of his tail had reopened again, bleeding through the bandage wrapped around it.

Well, shit. This wasn’t good at all. 

He soon forgot about his quest to find Lance again, hovering there in his place as he bent his tail around and tried to press down on it to stop the bleeding. Applying pressure only hurt more, and he couldn’t bring himself to press down hard enough to actually stop it.

He couldn’t risk loosing more blood, this combined with when he’d first been stabbed was only going to make things more difficult for Lance. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Keith? Keith! What the hell are you doing out here! Oh my god you’re bleeding!” 

A voice yelled from the near distance, and Keith didn’t even look up because he knew very well who it was. In a flurry of shiny scales and blue fins he was taken into the boys arms like a precious stone, a soft cooing in his ear as his panic calmed down a little.

“I’m so sorry, you weren’t there when I woke up and I thought you left me so I went looking for you.. I didn’t mean for this to happen, I didn’t want to be a burden.” Keith mumbled into Lance’s chest, his voice getting higher at the end as the emotion clogged up his throat.

“Hey, shh.. it’s okay, I just went back home to get some more stuff and make sure that everything was okay over there.. I should’ve told you where I was going.” Lance spoke softly, holding on close to the shark bundled up in his arms.

This made Keith look up a little, purple eyes glistening slightly in the filtered sun. “You’re not going to leave me?” He asked quietly.

“Never, I’ll never just leave you like that..” 

The reply made him smile. Lance was never going to leave him. That was all Keith needed to relax again, not too bothered about how he was still bleeding because he had Lance with him, and Lance would help.

“Let’s go back and get you fixed up.” Lance sighed, balancing the bucket and first aid kit in one hand as he kept Keith pressed close to him, carefully carrying the boy back to the cave where it was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keith needs hugs, it’s confirmed.


	10. Stitches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gives Keith some stitches before trying to find out a little more on his other wound, only to get harshly brushed off.

Once Lance had safely gotten Keith back to their little cave, and set everything he brought with him down, he was able to take a proper look at whatever damage had been done on the sharks little expedition.

“You can’t go swimming around until you’re all healed up.. you’ve reopened the stab wound, and I’m starting to think that stitches might be the best option here,” He explained, voice soft and gentle as not to startle Keith with the suggestion.

It didn’t work, because Keith sent an alarmed glare over in Lance’s direction and tried to wiggle away from the other, though it didn’t go too well as he winced in pain from the sudden movement. “You can’t give me stitches, I won’t let you do that.”

“Hey.. it won’t take long.. just a few to make sure that it doesn’t open up again, you’ll barely notice and it’ll be over in seconds.”

That didn’t seem to be very convincing to Keith, who even despite being drowsy over blood loss pushed himself up to sit and didn’t stop once at glaring daggers at the mermaid. “You’re not a doctor. You can’t,” He huffed in protest.

With a small smile Lance pulled himself up next to Keith, wrapping an arm around him and rubbing his side gently. “No, but I know how to put in stitches properly.. let me do this for you and then I’ll leave them alone.. without having to worry about them you’ll be able to get some proper rest.”

Keith looked up, face a mix of confusion and something that looked like hope. “And you won’t leave me while I’m asleep?” He asked.

“No, I won’t leave you whether you’re asleep or awake.”

That was all it took, because after a moment of thought Keith gave a small nod as permission and Lance went back down to his tail, looking through the first aid kit to get out what he’d need. 

“Will it hurt?” Keith whispered, seeming to be more worried about the pain more than anything else. When looking up to see the genuine fear on his eyes Lance gave a few soothing chirps to comfort him a little, the sounds rolling from his tongue with ease.

“Not at all, nothing but a small tugging feeling. I’ve got this special numbing gel that I’ll put around the area, that way you’ll be free of pain,” Lance flashed a toothy grin, only going back down to actually apply the gel when that fearful look in Keith’s eyes had mostly subsided.

That’s exactly what Lance wanted to do, make all that worry and fear and anger that was bottled up inside of Keith go away, to rid him of all that anxiety that was weighing him down to the point even others could tell.

He whistled as to avoid the silence as he removed the bandage and carefully dabbed on the gel, taking note of how Keith didn’t have scales but a smooth, grey skin-like substance. It felt delicate just like the rest of him, even more so on the few parts where his skin dipped down in whiter scars, jagged and old but sure to carry some sort of memories.

“I’m going to start.. you can hold onto a rock to something if you feel uneasy, and if it gets too uncomfortable or hurts in any way tell me and I’ll stop,” Lance whispered, giving Keith’s tail a few more light strokes before using the thin needle to pierce Keith’s soft skin.

His focus was on the needl, but his eyes were on Keith as he watched the boy shift a little, but there weren’t any signs of pain so he took that as a signal to continue.

As Lance stitched up the round spear hole in his tail, Keith tried his hardest to divert his attention away from the odd feeling of the stitches. His fingers danced lightly over where his stomach poked out ever so slightly, pressing down a little only for the muscle to show resistance and not budge.

This wasn’t what he’d planned on at all, he didn’t want anything to do with pups. But as the two weeks since he realised went on, the thought of having these eggs and then straight out abandoning them seemed like a cruel thing to do. It all expanded from there, and he came to the conclusion that having little shark pups following him around would be nice, as his own young couldn’t leave him. Just pray that they looked more like him.

That method of distraction worked perfectly, because he was snapped out of his little haze by Lance sliding up next to him, bringing the small bucket of fish with him too.

“See? I told you it’d be fine.. you barely noticed a thing,” He said with a smile, proud of his work.

And, yeah, Keith looked down at his still numb tail to see the wound wrapped back up in a seaweed bandage, nothing but a dull throb to show anything had just happened.

With a small smile of his own he accepted Lance’s kind gesture, taking out one of the small fish to eat. He tried not to eat too much, wanting to save some for a stock so then he and Lance didn’t need to go out as much. Not that Lance would let him go out in the first place.

“The infection on your other cut seems to be doing okay.. would you mind telling me how it happened and when? That way I can make sure it isn’t dangerous..” 

That made Keith stop eating, honestly making him loose his appetite as a whole, and he pushed the bucket back over to Lance with a small shrug. “It doesn’t matter..” He mumbled dismissively.

“If it’s infected like this then it does matter, just tell me what happened,” Lance tried again, reaching out to touch Keith’s arm only to have the boy jerk away with a hiss.

“No. It doesn’t matter, stop asking,” He spat harshly, the words making Lance recoil a little in surprise.

Though, he didn’t have it in him to be mad at the outburst, realising quickly that whatever had happened to Keith he wasn’t too keen on revisiting it.

“That’s okay.. we can talk about it when you’re ready, just keep eating.”

Keith bit back a witty response about never being ready, opting to just listening to what Lance was saying and continuing to eat. After all, the mermaid was being surprisingly nice, and right about now Keith really didn’t want that to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we love a secretive keith


	11. Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally owns up to the lie he’s been telling his family about Keith, starting with Allura.

It was like they’d been caught by the current, pushed into a cycle that neither wanted to break. Actually, it was quite a nice cycle. Peaceful, predictable.

Days passed with ease, the same pattern of Lance going home at night and coming back in the afternoon to take care of Keith, who seemed to be getting better. 

He no longer had that infection, and the wound on the bottom of his tail was healing nicely. In the month and a half they’d been together he’d also grown a little, the time where they’d just sit together in silence as Lance tried to coax Keith into sleeping was instead spent quietly talking to his eggs.

Even though that was resting time, Lance couldn’t bring himself to tell Keith to stop talking and go to sleep. It was cute, that was undeniable, and he just seemed so relaxed while doing it.

Plus, Keith was still stubborn as ever and wouldn’t stop if he was told to. Some days he refused to stay in the cave as it was too restricting, so Lance took him out just to go around the area but never took away the hand he rested on his elbow.

They were growing closer, a few soft trills that were usually reserved for a mate put Keith at ease instantly, leaving Lance proud that he’d grown well into the spot of being a mate for the boy.

It was such a pattern that even his parents had picked up on it, forcing Lance to keep up the whole ‘pretty girl’ story he’d had with Allura. As time passed they’d started to ask if they could ever meet this lady, and every time Lance was at loss of a proper answer.

His siblings knew, the younger twins pestered him about having a crush and Veronica constantly asked questions about this mystery woman. To say the least, it was becoming an issue. Even more so with the fact that Keith didn’t know about what the coverup lie was consisting of, that Lance’s family expected him to be some beautiful girl without eggs.

Lance needed to tell someone, and soon. If there was any good person to start with, it would be Allura.

 

He swam back to his families cave that night with Keith sleeping soundly, the promise of him being back soon helping put the shark at ease.

Luckily he didn’t get so scared about Lance leaving him anymore, building up a bit of trust and Lance was extremely grateful for.

Right now his parents were on another business trip, which was becoming more often and longer as time went on, and it was for a week. So if Allura was mad about the news she’d have a full week to cool of and hopefully not spill the beans to anyone else.

Pushing past the moss and seaweed curtain at the entrance he peaked inside, and though he’d love to stall Allura caught his gaze right away.

“I was about to cook something for us to have as dinner, the twins already ate and Veronica took them out to go look at the stars near the surface. They only just left if you’d like to join them?” She explained happily, that familiar cheer in her voice that calmed Lance’s nerves slightly.

“Uh, no, I’m good.. but I need to talk to you, if that’s okay?” Lance looked down at the rocky floor as he spoke cautiously, “It’s about that girl.”

Maybe it was Allura being the caring older cousin she was, or just desperate for any sort of gossip on Lance’s love-life she could get, but she immediately put her stuff down to sit down on the moss bed awaiting Lance to sit with her.

And so he did, wanting to get everything out at once and deal with the consequences later. “Don’t interrupt me. And don’t overreact.. this is important,” He said with a deep breath, taking the nod from Allura as signal to speak.

“That lady isn’t exactly a lady.. she’s actually a dude.. and doesn’t really dig me like as I said she, or he, did. Yes, this guy is injured.. but he’s also egg-heavy.. and doesn’t really have a mate. I don’t know how the eggs got there, he won’t tell me, but I do know that birth without a mate is hard.. so I’m like.. being a temporary mate for him.. as a comfort sorts thing.”

He spoke slowly, picking his words carefully as not to slip up and say the wrong thing. So far, Allura was taking it great, “And why wouldn’t you tell us this? It all seems perfectly fine to me,” She asked, not seeing the problem as Lance hadn’t even fully explained yet.

It was now or ever, pray to whatever god was out there that he’d see the light of day again. After too much of a pause he closed his eyes and muttered the words so quietly they might not even of been heard, “He’s a shark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooOOOoOoo i wonder what allura gonna dooOoooOOoo
> 
> also omg it’s about time i got you fellas to hmu on instagram  
> there my comic acc uwu: @/camisadoklance  
> and my art acc: @/sspacemess  
> i also have a tumblr that i don’t use as much but i’m still pretty active on it: @/sspacemess


	12. Sharks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not taking Lance’s news nearly as badly as he had suspected, Allura shares a little secret of her own that brings things into a new light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is short af but it’s 2am and i HAD to get this out of my system

Allura laughed.

She laughed.

After being told that this boy Lance had been taking care of and lying about was actually a shark, a species known to kill first and ask questions never, Allura just laughed.

There was so fearful look, no worrying, no demanding Lance to turn the shark in to the shoal authorities.

“I-I’m sorry.. shouldn’t you be yelling at me right about now?” Lance asked, anxiety only picking back up a hundred times worse at the strange reaction.

Allura sighed, a small smile on her face as one of her hands rested on top of Lance’s. “I was always told you were just like me as a guppy.”

The boys eyes widened, not sure what this was implying. Whatever it meant, he was getting more and more curious.

“I guess we all have our own little secrets, huh? Say.. do you remember last year when I went away on that big holiday for several months, and how not long after I moved out to the cove there?” 

Lance nodded mindlessly, too caught up on hearing more and figuring out what his cousin was getting at to bother with speech. And, lucky for him, she seemed just as keen to explain.

“I’ve been seeing someone.. for a while, actually. This lovely young man is also a shark, and just like you I decided not to tell anybody about this in hopes of protecting him,” She paused, taking in Lance’s absolutely baffled expression with a grin.

“That wasn’t really a holiday.. I was egg-heavy with the sharks pups, and if anyone here knew then there’s no doubt that I’d ever get to see him again. So we went away to make sure they had a safe birth, and that’s when I decided to move there where it would be safe for us to raise them.”

He was at a loss for words, too many questions running through his mind about all this. But overall he was relived, a massive weight being lifted off his shoulder at the fact that if worst comes to worst he had Allura to help him, who was strangely in the same situation.

“Are the pups healthy? How are they?” He asked first, nervousness washing away into excitement about the news of his cousins children.

“They certainly are, and they’re doing just great.. there’s three of them, two girls and one boy. Quite adorable little devils, a beautiful mix of shark and mermaid,” She went on proudly, knowing very well that not many hybrids existed anymore and happy to say that she had some of her own.

Lance had a wide smile as well, jumping forward to pull Allura into a tight hug, “That’s amazing! I promise that I won’t tell anybody, well maybe Keith, but besides that my lips are sealed!”

“Keith? Is that his name?”

In the moment of joy Lance hadn’t realised that so far he hadn’t mentioned Keith’s actual name so far, and it had slipped without him even thinking, “Uh.. yeah.. Keith, I dunno his last name though.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“My mates name is Lotor.. I’m sure that if your little friend is ever worried about all this Lotor would be more than happy to talk with him. If you’re the one taking care of Keith then I assume he isn’t around any other sharks?”

“No.. he’s not, I don’t know why but I do know that he is alone. I’ll have to talk to him about it, all of this should make him a little more relaxed on the thought of me being a mermaid and him a shark now that there’s someone who’s done it before and succeeded,” Lance only now picked up on how much he didn’t know about Keith. That would have to change, and quickly.

Allura then got up, giving Lance a kiss to the top of his head before returning to the kitchen, “Eat something and then head off to bed a little earlier, that way you’ll won’t wake up as late.. don’t worry about the others being nosey about the ‘girl’, I’ll deal with them.”

“Thank you so much, Allura. This means everything to me, and to Keith. You’re an actual lifesaver,” Lance said with a smile, going over to grab a few oysters and head up to his ledge, a new sort of comfort in him knowing that this will be a lot easier from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lot of yous thought that lotor was gonna be a bad guy but uwu i luv him too much to do that


	13. Bubbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wakes up a tired and grumpy Keith with bubbles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oH mY gOd this chapter is literally just PURE fluff and made up facts about shark pregnancy

That morning Lance came back to the cave both earlier and with some exciting news.

He’d listened to Allura and gone to bed earlier than he usually would of, and it all paid off when he slowly approached the entrance to find Keith still asleep.

It was comforting to watch, knowing that he was safe and not worrying about every little thing. All relaxed in the small bed of sand Lance had put down, one arm under his head and tail curled around himself slightly as he still couldn’t move it too much.

The other arm was wrapped protectively around his stomach, like once again he’d fallen asleep during his little nightly egg-conversation routine.

Lance had grown into his role of being a temporary mate quite well, his awkwardness going away bit by bit with the time they’d been together. He was a lot more open about his feelings now, and never hesitated to tell Keith how cute he looked or how nice his hair was.

It was convincing, anybody else would think they were actual mates. And, honestly, Lance was starting to enjoy himself so much that he was sad that it’d come to an end eventually. He liked what they had going, making him wonder if he was developing actual feelings for the shark boy.

Nah, no way, he just liked the company.

At least that’s what he told himself as he went over to settle down nicely behind Keith, his larger and longer tail wrapping around the other and one hand going to pull Keith in closer.

Like clockwork, no questioning or wondering if it was okay. He just acted, and judging by how he got the same reaction of Keith pressing back into the warmth of another body it was the same for him.

“Keeeith~” Lance sang in the boys ear, trying to wake him up but didn’t get much more than a grumble in reply.

He huffed, shifting a little to nose at Keith’s neck until he reached his gills, nipping at them playfully and blowing bubbles onto the sensitive flap.

That worked perfectly, as Keith jolted in his spot and awoke in a breathless fit of giggles, squirming around in his spot to escape the attack on his gills.

“Lance! Stop it!” He squealed, but didn’t get much luck as Lance only continued with a snort of laughter of his own.

The thing he loved most about Keith’s laughter was that it wasn’t high pitched and giggle and girly like most omegas, male or female, but it was a reasonable pitch and every now and then he’d snort and it was absolutely the cutest sound ever.

Moral of the story: Lance fucking loved Keith’s laugh. 

Eventually he gave in and stopped the attack on Keith’s gills, the shark turning around in his hold to face Lance. “Y’know, I was having a great dream before you rudely woke me up,” He huffed, doing that thing again where he scrunched his face up.

“What was it about?” Lance asked, only to have Keith scoff in his face.

“I can’t remember because you woke me up, dumbass,” He snorted again, the insult too fond and lighthearted to mean anything bad. That was normal for them now, even though they had grown close there was always little jabs at each other. Ones that neither ever took any proper offence towards.

Keith closed his eyes again, shifting to rest his head in the crook of Lance’s neck snuggly and his hand going back down to his stomach. It wasn’t even that big, barely noticeable as any passerby would only think that Keith was a little chubby. But for someone as bony and small as the little shark boy currently curled up in Lance’s arms it was easy for him to tell.

Plus, he had multiple eggs growing inside of him. They had no idea how many he’d end up with because a lot of the time half the batch wouldn’t even hatch or were eaten by mermaids.

Yes, they did that, and of course no they didn’t eat any eggs big enough to have guppies inside of them. 

Lance’s own hand went to rest on top of Keith’s hand, a little bigger and he had blue webbing between his tanned fingers, a nice contrast from Keith’s own pale hand with sharp black claws.

Shark pregnancies only lasted seven months, and after they had laid their eggs it was then over to incubating them and keeping them safe for another three.

Quite the process, but fun nonetheless.

Luckily Keith wasn’t at the point where he was in any pain, because oh boy was Lance dreading that considering how grumpy Keith already was. 

“Hey, don’t go back to sleep, I woke you up for a reason,” Lance scolded him quietly, giving a small nudge and this time he did wake back up right away. Which was kind of upsetting, as Lance was more than happy to continue attacking Keith with bubbles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nothing important happened, but next chapter lance’s explains the situation with lotor.  
> i’m looking forward to deciding what keith’s reaction is gonna be to lance telling someone about him when he’d said he wouldn’t (hAhA jk lol i already know have fun guessing)


	14. Support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance convinces Keith to let Lotor give him some extra support for later on

“..-so then everyone thought you were some hot girl! It only got worse from there as they asked to see you and junk and-.. Keith? Are you even listening to me?” Lance stopped his explaining about the lie he’d told Allura at first to look down at Keith, still lax in Lance’s arms.

“Yeah.. yeah.. I’m listening..” He mumbled, a small yawn following close after. It sounded like he was only half listening, but Lance had to get this out. Waiting wouldn’t do them any good.

“Well.. as I was saying, it all got it of hand super quickly and I didn’t know what to do, so I did the first thing I could think of.. tell Allura about all of this-“ Lance continued, but was cut off by Keith who quickly looked up, honestly startling him a bit.

“You told your cousin about me?! Are you fucking insane? She’s gonna tell your parents and then you won’t be allowed back!” He shouted, any sense of sleepiness going away in an instant.

“It’s nothing like that, I’m here right now, am I not? Let me finish explaining,” He said softly, rubbing small circles into Keith’s soft skin where his hand was still resting. There was a small grunt of annoyance from the shark, laying back down to listen.

“She kinda just laughed at me.. and after some talking and explaining I found out that she is actually kinda in the same situation. She’s got a shark mate and a few little pups that, due to the whole shark thing, she hasn’t told anybody else about. So she agreed to not tell anyone about you either!”

Keith thought about it, not exactly sure how he was supposed to feel about Lance spilling the beans about him. Yeah, nothing bad happened in the end, but he had still told.

“You.. told your cousin about me?” He repeated, finding that the most hard to believe, as Lance was the last person he’d expected to break a promise as important as that one.

“Well, yeah? But like I said, it’s all okay now.. and I didn’t even tell her about you specifically, your name wasn’t mentioned at all,” Lance explained quietly, not sure what he had expected in the first place as a reaction, but he should of been prepared for this.

Keith paused again, thinking up what the hell he was supposed to say next, “Why on earth are you even telling me this?” He asked, not getting if everything was fine then why Lance felt the need to tell him about it.

“Look.. this is the good part,” Lance started, perking up a little as this was definitely more exciting, “She offered to bring her mate down to talk to you.. y’know.. for extra support and all that junk, since you don’t have any other sharks around!”

In response Keith only scoffed, rolling back over to face away from Lance. “I don’t need extra support,” He grumbled.

Lance sighed, pressing up against Keith’s back and letting his tail wrap back around him. He nosed at the boys gills like he’d done before, but this time didn’t blow on them and just nipped gently at the sensitive skin with a calming trill. That worked just how he’d wanted, as it only took a second for Keith to relax in his arms.

“You’re strong, and I know that you probably don’t need support.. but in a few months time you might go through things and feel things that I can’t explain since I’m a mermaid.. but having a shark at your side for when that does happen will be amazing,” He continued to explain softly, not risking being loud and scaring Keith back off again.

“And if he brings other sharks?” Keith asked, overly sceptical about this whole thing as didn’t want to put trust on this strange he hadn’t even met before.

“What him and Allura have if just as illegal as this.. he’d also be putting his precious pups in danger by bringing sharks to you.. if he managed to gain Allura’s trust then he mustn’t be bad..”

That seemed to do it. Keith rolled onto his back to look up and Lance, a small smile now on his face, “Let’s wait a few more months.. and then I guess I’ll talk to him.”

Lance chirped, pulling Keith into a hug to coo in his ear happily. The shark had no idea what any of it meant since it was a mermaid language, but he did know that they were sounds used for comfort and often to assure upset mates. He’d learnt that from Lance, who’d taught him a lot in the time they’d been spending.

“That works perfectly, because right now,” Lance paused, moving down to nuzzle into Keith’s stomach and give it a warm kiss, “I’m the only support you need.”

They were perfect together, and slot against each other like two pieces of a puzzle. They very well could be mates judging by the open affection, and it was starting to make Lance wonder if he’d gotten too comfortable with taking care of Keith.

From the way that he always waited and extra minute to make sure Keith was actually asleep before leaving, to how when he woke him up his first instinct was to wrap around him protectively. It wasn’t hard to face the facts that maybe Lance was a little in love with the shark boy.

Now it was just to figure out if Keith actually liked him just as much or if it was the hormones speaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell that i love klance cuddles??  
> next chapter will be another timeskip, so expect some egg updates and lots of helpful lance


	15. Mermaids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith demands that they leave the cave, and ends up swimming right near a mermaid (and assumed danger) with a smile on his face

Four months along.

Keith was a little over the halfway mark, and just became more and more restless and cranky with every week that passed.

Due to having multiple eggs sharks grew to be a lot bigger than humans would, meaning that Keith had gotten to the point where if he wasn’t talking to his stomach he was complaining about his stomach.

“This is exactly why you’re failing, you should seriously talk to your parents about getting a tutor.”

“Awh, Keithy, I’m not sure if you’ve forgotten but you’re my tutor. Now help me out with this sum.”

Lance was homeschooled, due to both of his parents being lawyers and they were fortunate enough to have that sort of money, and had been told by Allura to spend time studying when he was with Keith. 

He’d learnt that Keith didn’t even go to school, and dropped out when he was sixteen. Not that it made much of a difference, since either way he still managed to be smarter than Lance.

Keith huffed, getting bored quickly of helping Lance out with his maths and slumped back against the mermaids chest where he was sitting on his lap. “My tails all cramped up, I’ll die if I stay here in this cave any longer,” He said with a long groan.

“Keith, buddy, you look like you’ve swallowed a small softball, you can’t go out wandering now,” Lance stopped short when Keith shot him a particular look before stuttering to correct himself. “Not that it means anything! You look fucking adorable like that, but adventuring wouldn’t be the best idea.”

“You think I’m adorable, I’m flattered,” Keith grinned, tilting his head up so he could give the underside of Lance’s chin a small peck.

“Don’t act like you didn’t know that before, I think you’re absolutely beautiful.. even more so with them eggs, all soft looking but still protective and kinda harsh, you’re amazing.”

There was nothing like the way that Keith melted under the praise, cheeks flushed red as his tail thumped against the sand and he hummed in appreciation. His eyes would close and he’d just lie there, letting himself take the sweet words from his mate.

Well, sort of mate, since they definitely weren’t mated or anything but with time Keith had gotten to that point where he understood why having a mate was necessary. Without Lance he would’ve boarded himself into a corner and died, but instead took as long as he wanted basking in the warmth of his mates touch.

Sort of mate.

Whatever.

“It’s a full moon, so I’m going out,” Keith didn’t leave much room for arguments as he wiggled out of Lance’s hold and got ready to go, which really only included smoothing out his hair that was a mess from it being ruffled and played with so much in the past hour.

“I can get Lotor to come over tomorrow and talk to you.. that’ll be some extra socialisation.. you don’t need to go out,” Lance suggested, a hand around Keith’s waist to keep him close, “After all you still haven’t met him yet, and is about time you got that support.”

“Nah, I’ve got my own plans, you’re welcome to stay here and wait until I’m back,” He said nonchalantly, as if the idea of Lance letting him go out alone wasn’t impossible.

Lance gawked, reaching for something to say as Keith pulled him by his hand out of the cave, already assuming that Lance would be coming.

And, as per usual, he was right. It was a full moon and it seemed as if he knew exactly where he was going by the way he peaked around corners and checked his surroundings to make sure he was on the right path. Lance didn’t say much, just keeping an arm tight around the boys waist with no plans of letting him go.

Keith let out a loud sound, sounding a little like that trill Lance had used when they first met, but it was low and not quite a growl but a purr. Whatever that sound was, Lance immediately decided that he liked it.

Though, he didn’t like the responding mermaid trill from the distance, tightening his grip on Keith instinctively, “There’s a mermaid here, we have to go,” He whisper-shouted, knowing that if anybody was to see Keith they’d spear him without asking any questions.

“I know,” Keith said with a smug smile, breaking away from Lance’s hold to swim off ahead. This boy had got to be crazy, so in a panic to not let Keith run right into what Lance saw as danger he shot off after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oo boy i wonder who it’s gonna be


	16. Shiro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The idea of a temporary mate doesn’t settle very well with others, especially when it’s a couple so affectionate as Keith and Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i lOooOooooOoove shiro

“Keith, Keith! Don’t you dare go over there! Keith! Listen to me!”

Lance was shouting at the shark still swimming right towards the mermaid trill, even going so far as to respond with that strange grumbly purr. He really didn’t want Keith to get speared, but there wasn’t any stopping him now.

Swimming as fast as he could manage, Keith wasn’t showing any signs of fear or worry. He was excited. Joy clear in his face as he kept searching for whatever mermaid was on the responding end of his calls, a mermaid that Lance could only pray wouldn’t try anything dangerous.

Lance managed to get a grip on the end of Keith’s tail, which thank god was healed by now, only to have the hefty back fin whacked into his face as Keith continued to swim off. Immediately blood spilled from his nose, making him stop to make sure that nothing was actually wrong with it.

It wasn’t that Keith didn’t care, he just didn’t notice, continuing his odd call until he reached who he was looking for and shot into the arms of a much larger purple scaled mermaid.

“Shiro! I missed you so much!” Keith said with his face pressed into the mermaids shoulder, holding on tight as they shared a slightly uncomfortable looking hug.

“I know, I know.. I missed you too,” The purple mermaid, or Shiro, responded quietly, a lot more calm about this reunion as he gently rubbed Keith’s back.

Neither of them seemed to notice Lance watching from a distance, quietly observing as he pressed a bit of seaweed to his slightly bruised nose.

The two pulled away, grinning like absolute idiots, before Shiro scanned his eyes over Keith’s body to make sure the boy was free of any injuries. His expression dropped as soon as his gaze locked with the others stomach, taking another look around only to see no mating mark.

“Oh my god, who did this to you?” He asked after a moment of gaping like a fish, clearly in shock as he took Keith’s face in his hands, gentle worry evident in all of his moments.

“It doesn’t matter, they don’t matter.”

“Do I know them? Do you know them? If they hurt you in any way while doing this I swear I will hunt them down,” Shiro’s shock soon turned into anger, furious over the thought that somebody had hurt precious Keith.

Keith was the one to keep calm this time, putting a clawed hand over Shiro’s that was still rested on his face, “No and no.. that’s why they don’t matter.. right now I want this, I’ve worked my way around it and decided that I’ll be keeping whatever pups I get.”

Still quietly watching, Lance decided that after this they’d have to have a proper talk about where them eggs came from. 

“Are you sure? This is a big deal, you’re only eighteen.. you shouldn’t have to throw your life away like this,” Shiro whispered, concerned that maybe Keith was making the wrong choice, since he was much older and didn’t even have pups.

“I’m sure. I don’t even have much of a life anyway.. so it’s either swim around aimlessly alone.. or swim around aimlessly while also taking care of cute little pups,” Keith grinned, proud of his answer.

Even with the surprisingly sensible reply Shiro was still worried and unsure, mostly about the mate issue. It was known to be unlawful to have pups or guppies without a mate, shamed upon by a decent chunk of society.

Lance was hovering off to the side, not sure if it would be a good idea to come in and interrupt the two. At least Keith wasn’t in any danger, so he had no problem with hiding out until they were done.

Of course, as if right on time, Keith wasn’t going to let Lance sit back and watch. “Oh! And this is Lance, he’s my temporary mate!” He cheered, grabbing onto Lance’s hand to pull him over, “And sorry about your nose, I’ll fix it up when we get back.”

“Your.. temporary mate?” Shiro questioned, having difficulty grasping how that was meant to be possible. Which, was an understandable reaction that he’d expect from just about anyone.

“Yeah.. I just do all the stuff that a mate would do, like keep him safe and healthy and supply lots of hugs,” Lance explained with a small shrug, his arm wrapping back around Keith’s waist like that was where it belonged. 

This took a moment to process, Shiro looking between the two that seemed very much so like proper mates. “So you two cuddle and give each other kisses and you’re not in love?”

“Actually, there’s a no lip kisses rule,” Keith quickly added in, “And, no, we’re not in love.”

Silence fell upon the small group. Lance didn’t want to say anything, because he was very much so in love with Keith. He’d finally faced the facts, he loved this boy to death even if it was only supposed to be temporary. It kinda sucked too, because there really was no way of telling how Keith properly felt until he’d given birth to his eggs and the hormones settled down, making it a waiting game for Lance.


	17. Halfbreeds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That night at the cave Allura and her little family pay a visit, her cute shark pups immediately sparking Keith’s interest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is literally a 2am filler chapter bc next chapter is serious stuff and i couldn’t fit it all in

“And you’ll come to mine and Adams cave as soon as the eggs have hatched?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll make sure to do everything that Lance tells you?”

“Of course.”

“And you’ll not skip meals? Oh my god, your arms are still so bony, shouldn’t you of filled out a little more by now? I can go back to our cave and grab you some more fish?”

“Calm down, we have food all under control. If anything is to go wrong you’ll be the first to know.”

The shark and the mermaid were huddled together, Shiro cupping Keith’s face in his hands like he was trying to hold on for as long as possible, a concerned expression on his face as he made sure that the two not-mates were doing everything they were supposed to be doing to assure that Keith was safe and healthy.

After some awkward introductions, Lance had been told that they were brothers. Confusion must of been obvious in his face, as it was then explained that they were merely ‘like brothers’. Though he would’ve believed it anyway, from their similar pale skin and dark black hair, if he also ignored how they were complete different races that were supposed to hate each other.

Shiro wasn’t for the sharks, oh he was definitely against them, but had known Keith since he was too small to be anything dangerous. So that would explain why neither of their throats had been ripped out. Luckily he had taken a liking towards Lance, and was actually rather fond of him, probably over the slightly amusing temporary mate thing.

Finally they pulled away from each other after many more hugs, which actually just meant that Lance had finally gotten Keith to stop being so emotional over leaving with the promise of extra cuddles. It was a win win for both of them, so without anymore complaints the shark swam back happily like he hadn’t just been balling over leaving Shiro.

Stupid damn mood swings. Yeah, Keith was cute, but it could be a little annoying when he went from calm to a mess in seconds or vice versa. 

x

Later that night Lance had gone through with his promise, and was now stuck in their usual position of Keith slumped in his lap while he nosed gently at his gills and rubbed his swollen stomach.

They’d both eaten, and just before settling down he’d made a quick trip back home to talk to Allura. It was finally time, Lotor was due to come around at any moment along with his cousin and their pups.

Despite being buzzing with excitement he couldn’t move or stop what he was doing until they came, as that would risk getting Keith in a bad mood (though that wasn’t hard).

Not too much longer and there was a high pitched trill, Lance recognising it as Allura and calling back. She approached the cave entrance warily, just in case it had been the wrong place.

She paused for a second before pointing at Keith with a questioning look, clearly trying to silently ask if he was asleep or something because that’s what it looked like. The chuckle that Lance gave as a response said enough, not bothering with being quiet because he knew that Keith always announced it before he went to go to sleep.

There was suddenly movement in the water, a small shark looking girl darted forward, and Keith was able to open his eyes and quickly catch her before she slammed right into his chest at full force.

This really brought him to attention, looking down at the girl still in his hands. She was small and chubby, a shark tail but decorated in shiny pink scales running up her spine and the corners of her face leading to her big blue eyes. Short, white hair floated around her, looking like a halo of sorts.

“She’s beautiful..” He whispered, watching as the little halfbreed guppy swam back to where the other four were still at the entrance of the cave.

“I know right, a nuisance sometimes but one look at her eyes and I can’t find it in myself to stay mad at her,” Allura mused with a smile, the small girl joining her brother and sister that looked much like her. “And you must be Keith? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

She held out her hand for a handshake, making Keith a little taken aback by the gesture but he still hesitantly shook it, his own hand small and pale in comparison to her darker one with the same shiny pink scales.

“You’re beautiful too,” Keith whispered again in awe, then turning to Lance who was watching the exchange from his spot, “I don’t see how you guys are related.”

“That’s so mean, how could you do this to me? Really, Keith, you’ll be the death of me.” Lance mocked being offended, followed up by a snort of laughter as he nipped at Keith’s gills playfully. He got the usual reaction of the shark squealing and trying to push him away, both of them falling unaware of the soft smiles from the two adults in front of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> help me name these children!!!! i suck at names so please comment ones i could use otherwise i’ll end up calling them all something dumb thinking it’s cool


	18. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance figures out what it really means to be jealous, urging Keith to finally come clean about who was the father to his children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry
> 
> tw for brief mention of rape, nothing detailed

At first Keith was.. hesitant.

Well, he shrunk further back into Lance with a hiss of warning and bared his teeth. 

So, yeah, hesitant.

It took many gentle touches and even more soft words to get Keith to let the other shark even sit down down next to him. Double that to get where they were now, with Keith still a little tense but paying close attention to whatever Lotor was telling him while Lance gave the two some privacy, sitting with Allura and her pups.

They all looked very similar, and Lance found humour in how the two girls had the same haircut making them look like twins. Short and silky, bangs that curved inwards much like Allura’s with a small sprout of hair that stuck more upwards than the rest. There was no denying who their parents were.

The boy was smaller, more shy and timid then the energetic girls. Short, fluffy hair, and darker blue eyes that looked almost purple in comparison to the bright blue of the other two. The two girls were named Mara and Arus, and the brother was Sincline. Lance didn’t question the fancy-pants sounding names, because he knew that was Allura’s thing.

He could spend all day watching them play fight and blabber about what they’d had for breakfast in broken english, but found his gaze going back over to Keith after an hour of not being next to him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Lotor, he really did because the guy looked like he was helping Keith like he’d said he would. But there was something that really set him off when seeing another Alpha so close to Keith when he wasn’t around.

Even if said Alpha was already mated.

Totally not to snoop on their conversation, Lance zoned out of the halfbreed pups explanation of a turtle they’d found and into the two sharks conversation, straining himself to hear and thanking his blessed pointed ears.

“Does the other parent know? How did this even happen?” Lotor asked the question that just about everyone did, but instead of being brushed off coldly Keith actually took it into consideration.

“I was in the west shipwrecks scavenging.”

There was a look shared between the two, realisation spreading across Lotor’s face. Was it a shark thing? How the hell did he manage to figure it out? Lance had no idea, but certainty didn’t like how he was going to be the last one to know.

“I should leave you and your mate to rest, please do let me know if you have any worries later on.”

Lotor gently ruffled Keith’s jet black hair, making Lance suppress a growl because only he was allowed to do that. He even got a smile in return, one of them stupid soft little smiles that made Lance’s heart melt. But this time he wasn’t happy because it wasn’t directed at him.

The small family said their goodbyes, taking longer than expected to wrangle the Mara and Arus and convince them to leave the cave, bribing them out with a trip around the coral reef on the way back home.

It was cute, domestic.

When they did finally get the children to listen and leave Lance returned to give spot next to Keith, determined to stop this stupid ignorant game of being brushed off and denied answers.

“Keith, I think that it’s about time we talked about this.” He started, stopping when the shark merely got up and swam off towards the entrance of the cave. Oh no, he is not going to avoid it now.

Lance grabbed onto his wrist, pulling him back inside. He struggled to get out, but had no chance to escape with the mermaid kept his grip firm and tight. “You have to tell me. I’m supposed to be your mate, so why does everybody get to know but me?”

“Because you’ll think I’m weak.”

“And I know that you’re not.. just tell me, I’m not going to think that you’re weak because of whatever happened. I wanna help you get better.”

Lance spoke carefully and softly, rubbing circles into Keith’s wrist where he was still holding on. With time he was able to pull the boy into a hug, his fins flaring out in a show of protectiveness. 

“I was jumped. In the shipwreck.” Keith mumbled after several minutes of silence, keeping it quiet and as straight to the point as he could get to avoid thinking about it too much.

Lance bit his lip, holding onto Keith tighter as his longer tail wrapped around his shorter one. “And the cut that was infected on your tail?” 

“Whenever I moved or tried to yell he’d push a knife in deeper, it was bleeding everywhere and it was either let it him do /it/ or I die or loose my tail or something and I didn’t wanna die..-“

Lance picked up on Keith quickly going into a panic as shushed him, cooing in his ear as he rubbed his back softly. There was a wet feeling on his shoulder where the sharks head was rested, followed by a shuddering sob that made Lance’s heart clench.

“That’s okay, you don’t need to tell me anymore.. I understand, and I’m sorry for pushing you, baby.” He whispered, the name slipping and he couldn’t even bring himself to care. It didn’t matter if Keith didn’t feel the same in the end, Lance was going to help him no matter what it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY
> 
> don’t worry lance is there to take care of keith I SWEAR ITLL ALL BE OKAY


	19. Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys break their ‘no lips’ rule for one night. Cuddling ensues.

It was a long and stressful night.

Sure, Lance had seen that dramatic crying from when Keith had to say bye to Shiro, but that was just from being over emotional and full of eggs that were messing with him.

This time was so much different, they were on the floor with Lance’s fins and spines flared out as far up as they could go, a shiny blue filling Keith’s wet vision whenever he tried to open his eyed.

He was still sobbing, so much to the point where he was shaking in Lance’s arms. And, after trying to push the mermaid away and suck his emotions back in, he just let it happen. They didn’t even continue to talk about it, but just the mention and thinking about it brought up stuff that he’d clearly pushed down for a reason.

When Lance asked him if he knew why it had happened the only response he got was a mumbled, “Shark pups grow into good soldiers if trained from a young age.”

Gross, whoever did that to Keith was a shitty waste of space.

It made him a little worried, that this mystery person might be back if their intention was to take Keith’s pups, but that just made Lance want to protect him and keep him safe even more.

Keith never truely calmed down, but he wasn’t going to cry all of the liquids out of his body anymore. They had moved themselves to the corner of the cave, so that Lance’s fins made a little barrier between them and the rest of the world.

“You’re so beautiful.. and I’m so, so proud of you. You’re the strongest boy I know. And now nothing else is ever going to happen to you, I’ll make sure that you’re safe.”

Lance had been whispering small phrases and reassuring words the whole time, letting Keith know that he wasn’t weak in any way and that he was loved more than anything. If not for the horrible reason he’d say this was nice, pouring out all this affection and all the shark boy could do was listen and take it.

He didn’t mind that Keith wasn’t quite looking him in the eyes, but he was looking at his face so that was enough. Where about’s on his face? Lance didn’t notice this but Keith was gazing at his lips out of everything, deep in thought as he only half listened.

“Can I kiss you?”

That made him stop instantly, the hand brushing through Keith’s hair freezing at the request.

“What? Are you sure? You said when we started this that you didn’t want lip kisses?”

“Just for tonight..”

Lance couldn’t say no. He was a good not-mate, and wouldn’t turn Keith down when he was in such a vulnerable state. That and he really wanted to kiss the boy senseless, and would take any chance he got even if it was a one time thing.

His hand moved from Keith’s hair to cup his cheek, rubbing it softly with his thumb as he leaned down to give him a soft peck on the lips. It was gentle and cautious, and he pulled away only an inch before going back in again. 

They continued like that, Keith ended up wrapping his arms around Lance’s neck as they exchanged sweet little kisses. Neither stopped to think about what they were doing, just making the most of each other’s company and this night where they were allowed to kiss as much as they wanted.

Though Keith liked the comfortable atmosphere, he was still impatient and stubborn and hotheaded as ever. One hand tangled in Lance’s hair, making sure that he didn’t pull away after a second this time so that he could deepen the kiss, nibbling on his lip slightly and only pulling back when he faintly tasted blood.

“Crap! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bite you.” He quickly apologised, cursing his sharp teeth.

Lance didn’t actually look like he cared that much, wiping away the little bit of blood that had pooled on his lip with a smile. “Don’t be sorry, it’s okay. Your little fangs are cute.”

“Yeah, and I could rip through your neck with them if I wanted to.” Keith snorted, cuddling up to Lance’s side, slightly burying himself in the thin layer of sand. 

“And I could poke you with one of my spines and have you poisoned in seconds.”

They both laughed, not at all phased with how dangerous both of them could be if they needed to. It was nice to think about, because they both knew that they’d fight for each other if it became necessary.

They shared another kiss, once again soft and tired as Keith yawned. “Will you stay here tonight? All night?” He asked quietly, already drifting off.

He had to debate it for a second, knowing that once again it was only Allura at home and she wouldn’t mind but was supposed to see Hunk and Pidge in the morning. Whatever, he’d deal with the problem when it came up.

“Of course, baby, I’ll be right here.. the whole night.” He whispered, smiling as he pressed a kiss to Keith’s temple and watched the boy succumb to sleep, this time not hesitating to closing his own eyes and joining him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is to make up for last chapter uwu


	20. Studying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance, Pidge and Hunk all meet up to study but suspicions rise when he leaves early to get back to the cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 20 chapters??? damn ok then
> 
> hmu on other social media’s:  
> instagram: @/sspacemess or @/camisadoklance  
> tumblr: @/sspacemess

They both slept through the morning, worn out from yesterday’s events and too busy basking in each other’s warmth to force themselves awake.

But the first thing that Lance did wake up to, at about noon, was Keith right up close to his face and complaining about something he hadn’t stopped to listen to just yet.

He zoned out, focusing on Keith’s still tired eyes as he grumbled. It was a great sight to wake up to, this beautiful little shark boy still cuddled up to him, their tails intertwined so that he couldn’t move away. So cute.

“Laaance, it huuuuurts.” Keith whined, ending with a loud groan of annoyance when he saw that Lance was still not listening to him or at least trying to help.

Oh yeah, that’s right, disgruntled not-mate. That was enough to snap him completely out of his little daze.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” He asked, one hand going to thread through the others hair and wrapping the other arm around him.

“Oh my god, are you fucking stupid?” Keith mumbled, burying his head in Lance’s shoulder, “It huuuuurts.”

Okay, well that was pretty obvious. Lance put his hand gentle on top of Keith’s stomach, rubbing the skin with his thumb.

“Do you know why it hurts?” He asked quietly, hoping that there was some way he could help ease the pain as it wasn’t nice to see Keith like this when he was usually so put together.

“I have fucking eggs growing inside of me! It looks like I’ve swallowed a slightly deflated basket ball! Obviously growing like this is going to hurt, dumbass.”

Lance sighed. He knew that Keith didn’t actually mean any of this, and was just in a mood so he gave him pity for that. Luckily though, he did have many siblings younger than him so he wasn’t unfamiliar to listening to the complaints and how to help.

“Shh, baby, let me help you.” He whispered, pulling Keith to sit up with him and this time using both hands to gently rub his stomach. It was slow and somewhat cautious movements, but he remembered to press down a little on the skin.

That seemed to help perfectly, as Keith leaned back into the rocky wall of the cave, relaxing and closing his eyes. “Thankyou s’much.” He mumbled, words a little slurred together.

“Anything for you.” Lance leaned in but stopped himself half way, remembering that the whole kissing on the lips thing was only for last night. He was glad that Keith didn’t see, as it saved him the embarrassment when he instead went to give him a soft kiss to his gills, getting to hear that cute giggle in reply.

x

That hour was spent with whispered compliments and belly rubs, but there was only a certain amount of time they could do that for before Lance had to go.

So now he was here, entering the door of his house only to find a not so happy looking Pidge and an innocent as ever looking Hunk.

“Guys, I am so sorry for not being here this morning, I got a little busy and forgot you were coming.” He quickly apologised, actually feeling bad that they’d been sitting there since the morning. Even more so that he totally didn’t forget either.

The two on the moss couch looked at each other, exchanging a glance like there was something that needed to be said and they were debating who was to say it. Pidge cleared her throat.

“This is the first time you’ve agreed to meet up and study in weeks, and you’re even late. What are you always out doing?” She asked, curiosity but also a little bit of annoyance in her voice. 

“I’ve just been doin’ stuff, can we study now?” Lance sighed, sitting down across from them and getting his books down from the shelf. There was another exchanged glance, and this time it was Hunk who spoke.

“I dunno.. you’ve just been spending more time out there than with us.. have you found a new best friend or something?” He said nervous, looking down as he twiddled with his thumbs in his lap.

This made Lance drop his books, his heart snapping in half at how he had made Hunk sad. Which, to anybody that knew the precious angel, knew that was equivalent to murdering kittens or something.

“No, no, no! No! Don’t worry, I haven’t found a new best friend, you’re my one and only amazing best friend,” He paused, knowing he had to think of an excuse without lying too much like last time, “There’s just this other mermaid out there.. he’s a little hurt, so I’ve been taking care of him.”

Pidge and Hunk looked at each other, silently debating if they believed that. Lance held his breath until they both shrugged, pulling their own books closer to get to studying.

x

The study session went well, and hopefully this combined with Keith’s little tutoring lessons Lance might be able to get his grades up a little.

Just before the other two were scheduled to leave Lance had to get a head start, not wanting to leave Keith alone for too long because of the pain he’d been in that morning.

They said their goodbyes, but as soon as Lance was out the door and certainly out of earshot Pidge leaned over to Hunk, “We’re gonna follow him.” She whispered, not leaving any room for protest as she shot out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o boy next chapter is gonna be interesting  
> i’m starting another fic too!!!! is a klance zombie apocalypse au so that’s exciting!!


	21. Outburst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Hunk follow Lance back to the cave, the younger girl not all that happy with Keith being a shark.

Coming back Keith was actually still in the same position he’d left him in, except having picked up a little book about who knows what. A few months ago Lance had brought him in that book after spending too much time listening to Keith going on about how bored he was.

He didn’t want to disturb the peaceful reading, and slid right up next to Keith. As if out of instinct, Keith leaned his head down onto Lance’s shoulder to rest there, not stopping his reading at all.

They worked perfectly together, understanding what was right and what was wrong. No more awkward silences. No more questions, they just acted.

Though, Lance wasn’t known to be able to keep quiet or still for long amounts of time, and had soon started nosing at Keith’s gills in hopes of getting a reaction.

“Yes, Lance?” Keith sighed, putting down his book and turning a little more towards the mermaid, figuring that he just wanted some attention.

Lance grumbled something, still kissing away at Keith’s neck, “Nothin’... don’t mind me.” He mumbled, sounding innocent as ever and like he wasn’t currently reducing Keith into a blushing mess.

Not in the mood to accept any of that teasing, Keith pushed Lance away gently, but only managed to push him a little as he quickly landed on his elbows, and Lance tugged Keith down with him.

They were close now, faces not too far apart as they exchanged a glance, both knowing exactly what each other was thinking about. Lance didn’t move, raising a brow before Keith closed the gap between them with a little kiss.

It was short lived, but still firm and said everything that they didn’t say out loud.

“Oh my god, why are you kissing it!” A voice from the cave entrance shrieked, startling both of the boys as Lance’s first reaction was to wrap his arms around Keith in attempt to keep him protected from the intruder.

Actually looking up at said intruder, he was feeling a lot less threatened.

“What the hell, guys?” He muttered, loosening his grip on Keith and wasn’t too surprised when he retreated to the corner of the cave.

Pidge and Hunk were floating at the entrance, clearly having followed Lance back with the intention of finding out what was going on with their own eyes. Which wasn’t very good.

“Hey! You’re the one swapping spit with a shark! What the fuck? Do you know how dangerous that thing is!” Pidge continued on her little tangent, apparently completely appalled by even so much as the presence of the shark.

She swam further into the cave, or as Keith would say right into his territory. He pressed himself back harder against the rocks, hissing as the girl didn’t hesitate to inspect him, a scowl now on her face.

“Pidge, stop it! You’re scaring him..” Lance scolded, carefully approaching Keith again, “It’s okay, bud.. nobody’s going to hurt you while I’m here, okay?” He lowered his voice to a soothing whisper, getting Keith calm enough so that he could wrap his arms back around him.

“We’re scaring it? Excuse me! That thing is a rabid beast, it doesn’t care about you, it just wants to rip you apart and other gross shit!”

The open attack made Keith shift uncomfortably, sinking deeper into Lance’s hold as he wished this would all go away and he could get back to his book. 

Thank god for Hunk, who was still waiting obediently at the cave entrance and seemed to catch on to Lance’s desperate search for help, “Chill out a little, Pidge.. maybe he isn’t actually that bad, since he doesn’t seem to be trying to kill us right now.” He said calmly.

“Yeah, but it could kill us at any moment.” She spat the word ‘it’ harshly, refusing to refer to Keith as a person.

Hunk cautiously swam in, but still not daring to get as close as Pidge, “Well.. he’s got eggs.. so attacking us right now would be pretty stupid.. and plus, he’s shaking like a leaf, you might wanna lay off a little.” He mumbled.

God bless Hunk.

That seemed to do it, because Pidge gave one more inspecting look before going back next to her friend, still a little guarded about the situation but no longer fuming.

“Thank you guys.. and you don’t need to worry, Keith won’t hurt anybody. He’s harmless.” Lance cooed, burying his face in Keith’s soft hair, which brought up an equally soft smile from the smaller boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m sorry pidge is so mean here ;( i’ll make it up to her in a later chapter i promise


	22. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is pretty sure that the eggs are coming, ordering Lance to wait outside the cave and not see him in such a state. Lance accidentally leaves him a little too alone.

Keith had an extra four people by his side.

Sometimes Pidge and Hunk would come to visit, always filling in that silence that Keith hated. They were nice once he properly got to know them.

Sometimes Allura and Lotor would come, plus their three pups, just to check up and make sure everything was going well.

Then there was Shiro, who despite Lance’s protests Keith would still go out to see him and Adam, though they did arrange that next time they’d be coming to the cave instead.

Having all of this support was nice. But Keith still preferred Lance over everyone.

He didn’t exactly know why, he just felt more comfortable when it was only Lance around. Or when Lance would sing to him to help him get to sleep. Or when Lance would rub his stomach and give him little kisses.

It was a strange feeling, but a nice one too. Warm and fuzzy was the only way he could describe it. Lance made him feel warm and fuzzy. Nothing more, nothing less.

They were nearing the end date, the eggs could come any day now. That only brought along more whining and complaining, but Lance could somewhat understand since Keith was the biggest he’s been. 

But there was one day where the whining and complaining was amplified by, like, a million.

“The stupid pills don’t work, it still hurts.” Keith mumbled, his face squashed into Lance’s shoulder while the other had him wrapped up in his arms, one hand gently rubbing his stomach where it was hurting.

“Just pull through.. I’m sure it’ll stop soon.” Lance whispered, starting to second guess his decision being a not-mate because he couldn’t handle seeing Keith in pain like this.

There was a minute at the most of peaceful silence, but it was broken by Keith whining. Eyebrows drawn together, complete look of agony kind of whine. Then he went quiet again for another minute, and then whined again.

Lance was already concerned, but was now getting a little more worried, “You okay, baby?” He asked softly, hoping he could get some sort of answer that would help him fix this as he pulled away slightly to actually look at Keith.

His breathing was stuttered, face scrunched together not in that cute way and it looked almost like he was going to cry, “You need to leave.” He said, raising his voice a little so it wasn’t a complete whisper.

“What? Why?” Lance asked, shocked by the quick change from clinging to him to asking him to leave. No, telling him to leave.

Keith fumbled over his words, giving another pitiful whine, “Eggs. And you need to go.. you can’t see me like this..”

Did sharks give birth alone? Or was this one of them Keith things? Still, it was better to not argue with him in this state and get somebody who would understand what Keith was trying to get across better.

“Okay.. okay.. Keith, baby, look at me,” He paused, waiting for Keith to lift his head and crack open his eyes slightly, leaning in to give him a deep kiss, “I’ll be just outside. You’ll be okay, you can do this.”

After a moment of hesitance, Lance stood with what he said and went to the entrance of the cave, staying outside of it with his back to the wall. This wasn’t good, he hated not being able to help, but it was better than upsetting Keith right now.

Surely Keith wouldn’t notice him being gone for a few minutes, right? With that semi positive thought in mind Lance took a deep breath and set off, deciding that getting Shiro was probably best.

It wasn’t hard to find him either, being around the same location that they had last visited with the rest of his small shoal. 

“Shiro! Hey! I need your help, it’s about Keith!” Lance called out, desperate to get back to the cave and to his not-mate so he wanted to make this as quick as possible.

That seemed to work perfectly, because the older man was over right away at the mere mention of something about Keith, “What’s going on? He’s not here, is he? If the shoal sees him he’s going to actually get killed.”

“No, he’s not here, he’s at the cave.. but I’m pretty sure the eggs are coming and he told me to leave but I’m not sure if that was a good idea? I was just outside the cave when I thought to get you. Because you know Keith.” Lance rushed to explained, eager to get back.

“Well, yeah, that does sound like something Keith would do.. and certain sharks do prefer to birth alone..” Shiro rubbed his forehead, trying to wrap his head around the situation, “Wait.. if you’re here now, then that means you’ve left the cave completely when you’re supposed to be outside for him.”

Lance processed that for a moment, remembering his promise to be right outside the cave. That was a dumbass thing to do, “Oh shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lance you stoopid


	23. Soft Skin and Sharp Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last three months of the egg journey is filled with lots of cuddling and kisses.

They weren’t as quick as they would of liked to be.

First Shiro went off to find Adam so they could bring him, which took an extra five minutes.

Then on the way there Lance was barely paying attention, busy running through all the possibly scenarios they could come back to in his head, and hit the end of his tail on a rock.

Shiro hadn’t let them keep going until he had looked at Lance’s tail and confirmed that he was okay to keep swimming.

But they got there, and that’s all that mattered. The three of them waiting outside the cave, not even sure if Keith was done yet. They had taken a longer time than expected, so it was no surprise that he was.

From inside there was a quiet, half muffled, sob. Red lights went off in Lance’s head, not bothering to wait anymore as he shot inside of the cave, gently scooping Keith up in his arms.

“Hey.. don’t cry, I’m right here..” He whispered, closing his eyes as he focused on making sure that Keith was okay first.

“Yeah, after ignoring me for seven minutes and thirty four seconds.” Keith grumbled, a little mad but his tears came to a slow stop at being back in Lance’s hold.

Ouch, he had counted.

They pulled back and exchanged that look again, and as scheduled Lance leaned forward to give Keith a soft kiss. They still weren’t on an always lips basis, but this was something at least.

“I went to go get Shiro.. and he brought Adam, I didn’t think that we’d take so long.” He pulled away to whisper, feeling bad for leaving Keith.

Only now did he notice Keith’s tail was wrapped around something, though not entirely as he still had a shorter than normal tail. “Can I..?” Lance asked quietly, taking the small smile he got as a reply as a yes.

Keith moved his tail slightly, showing off five orange eggs a little bigger than golf balls. They were perfect orbs, shiny looking and delicate. 

“Awh.. you did so well, I’m so proud of you.” Lance cooed, kissing at Keith’s gills and got him to make that strange purring sound, but a little slowed down and tired. Cute.

Shiro and Adam came over, settling in next to Keith. They spent the next hour talking about how they were going to take care of these little pups and how great of a father Keith would be, and eventually the boy drifted off to sleep on Lance’s shoulder.

x

“There’s no way that you’ll raise five children, can I please have an egg?” Lance asked at the end of the first month, knowing that it would only be another two weeks until the eggs will be too far along that he could eat one.

Right now though? There wasn’t any actually babies in there yet, making them perfect for a snack.

“That is so gross.” Keith chuckled, still not fully accustomed to the whole egg eating thing that mermaids did.

They had taken up a favourite position when it came to cuddling. Keith would wrap himself around his pile of eggs and Lance would lie behind him, using his longer tail to wrap around the eggs again and keep them completely concealed.

It was spooning, but functional.

“Usually when mermaids have heaps of eggs they eat the ones that they won’t want, so they’re left with the ideal number of guppies.” Lance explained, still trying to get his hands on at least one egg, “There’s no way you’ll raise five pups.”

“I can only really handle one.. but I don’t want them taken away from me, I like having all five eggs.”

“Then let me take one egg now, and who knows, maybe only one will hatch in the end. Whatever ones are duds and don’t hatch I’ll take ‘em!” Lance said with a wide grin.

“Okay, fine, but don’t be all weird and eat it here.” Keith sighed, still finding it pretty disgusting as he handed Lance the smallest egg in his batch.

x

On the second month, they got to the point where they had to have the discussion. Even if neither of them wanted to.

“You don’t need to be here anymore..” Keith said one day.

They were wrapped up around the eggs, Lance resting his head on Keith’s slightly squishy stomach, having spent the day going on about how cute Keith looked with the extra weight.

“I know.. but I want to be here.” Lance mumbled in reply, a little nervous at how this would go. He had come to face what he felt about Keith, and judging by how Keith was no longer egg-heavy and still craved all them cuddles and occasional kisses it was easy to tell that he must feel somewhat the same.

Problem was that both boys lived in denial, too scared to make the first move.

“As a not-mate?” Keith asked, wrapping his arms around Lance’s back when the other moved up to kiss his cheek softly.

Lance shook his head, kissing Keith again but this time right on the lips, “What about.. a proper mate?” He suggested with a smile. When Keith didn’t answer and only leaned up to kiss Lance himself he knew his answer was a yes.

x

The third and final month rolled around quickly, the boys spending their time enjoying being offical mates (even though Lance was still yet to mark Keith, he’d get to that eventually).

There were so many more kisses, the no lips rule now fully lifted and it soon became as normal as their spontaneous cuddling.

They had been keeping a close eye on the eggs for the past week, wanting to both be there for when they hatched. It happened late one night, Keith being fast asleep while Lance was taking watch duty.

“Keith, wake up.” He whispered, shaking the boy lightly as he saw a small line appear on one of the translucent orange eggs.

Groggily, Keith opened his eyes with a groan, not too pleased with being woken up but he shot right up to attention when he noticed what was going on. There was a minor panic, but he kept himself still and calm as he watched.

Part of him was scared shitless. He had no idea what these pups would even look like, and had to just pray that they took up most of his features.

The line continued to spread, silently breaking the egg in half as its soft walls fell onto the sand. Inside was a small shark pup, tiny and fragile. After a nudge from Lance, Keith leaned forward to take the seemingly sleeping pup in his hands, getting a proper look.

It was a boy, short jet black hair with a small grey tail. What really caught his attention and made his breath get stuck in his throat was the shiny purple scales on his shoulders and cheeks, two small fins coming off of the shark tail in a matching colour.

His children were half breeds, meaning whoever had defiled him in the first place was a mermaid.

He didn’t have long to dwell, as another egg had started to crack. This one harboured a small girl, the same black hair and purple fins as the young boy. Carefully, Lance picked her up and placed her in Keith’s arms next to the other.

The other two eggs kept still, meaning that they were all empty except for these two. Well, he had only wanted one but he could deal with two.

“They’re half breeds,” He eventually whispered, still stuck in a mix of shock and disbelief, “It was a mermaid.”

“That’s okay.. just means that they’ll fit in with Lotor and Allura’s pups.” Lance said, rubbing Keith’s side. He was worried that he might freak out, because honestly if it was him he would.

There was more silence where Keith was trying to figure out how to feel about all this, watching as the girl grabbed into his clawed finger with her tiny hands, “They’re really cute.” He whispered.

“Yeah, takes after you,” Lance mumbled, a grin now on his face as it looked like everything was going to be fine. He used one hand to tilt Keith’s face towards him, giving the boy a kiss, “Thought of any names?”

Keith hummed in thought, looking down at the two shark pups (mermaid guppies?) in his arms, “The girl is going to be called Luna.. and the boy.. is Laith.”

“Laith?” Lance questioned the odd sounding name.

“It’s our names put together, I like it.” Keith said, beaming down at his two little pups. It was a rare smile, nothing like Lance had ever seen before. Filled with pride and happiness.

“I love you so damn much,” Lance mumbled, bringing Keith closer and leaving kisses everywhere he could reach while ignoring the squeal of protest, “You’re so pretty.. and you’ve got this cute little smile that’s so rare and precious, you’re small but have nice curves.. seriously, you’re all soft skin and sharp teeth, and I love it”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yep, this is the final chapter!!  
> i’ve still got so many ideas for this au, so i’m definitely going to make a sequel after i finish the other fic (uwu go check it out on my profile)  
> i hope this ending wasn’t disappointing?? there will be more in the sequel, so you’ll have to wait until then to see the pups grow up. maybe even do me a favour and comment some stuff you’d like to see next!


End file.
